Don't touch it, eat it or chop it, hammerhead worms …
According to the LSU AgCenter, “Skin exposed to apple snail eggs should be washed immediately.”
Snails are generally safe to handle, but there are a few things you should do to make sure you don't cause them any harm. Before picking up your snail, wash your hands with soap and water. This will help to remove any potentially harmful lotions, oils, and natural elements that a snail may absorb off of your skin.
This slime when it comes in contact with our hands can cause eosinophilic meningitis and other diseases which could be fatal. Thus, avoid touching snails and slugs with unprotected hands.
On the other hand, Snail slime can carry ecoli and other dangerous bacteria and rat lungworms. Lungworms are dangerous because, once ingested; they travel to the brain, where they can cause meningitis-like symptoms such as brain tissue damage and swelling.
It Promotes Optimal Skin Health
Snail slime contains much healthy benefit and important ingredient that nourishes, smoothing, moisturise your skin.
Snail mucin is well tolerated and there are no negative side effects to note. However, it's always a good idea if you have sensitive skin to test the product on a small area of your skin to make sure you don't have a reaction.
Slugs also sparked a debate over whether they are dangerous to touch and harm humans. The answer is yes. They might appear to be innocent and touchable, but they carry a variety of parasites. The most common is the rat lungworm or Angiostrongylus cantonensis, and its infection can lead to severe issues.
As a natural source of collagen, snail slime (or snail mucin or) is extremely effective on stretch marks and wrinkles. It also promotes the healing of skin lesions like burns or acne.
What is schistosomiasis? Schistosomiasis is a disease caused by a parasitic worm that lives in certain types of freshwater snails. The parasite leaves the snail and enters the water where it can enter a person's body through the skin when a person wades or swims in contaminated freshwater.
no they're not. it's an egg it feels no pain. it's an egg by all means if you particularly think it's wrong to crush snail eggs. that is totally fine.
People, especially children, should be cautioned not to handle snails and slugs, and if they do to wash their hands thoroughly afterwards.
Crush snails and slugs completely (otherwise they may recover and walk away) or drown them in a pail of soapy water (they survive in plain water). A few dead snail and slug bodies left on the soil surface will at- tract more snails and slugs and make your collecting easier, but large piles will breed flies.
Crushing egg masses and adults is more effective than knocking egg masses into the water, which ultimately suffocates and kills the eggs.
Dipping plants in a bleach solution can kill snails and eggs. Make a solution of 1 part plain bleach to 19 parts of water, which is about 3/4 cup bleach to a gallon of water. Dip the plants in this solution for two to three minutes, remove and rinse well under running water for up to five minutes.
If the shell has split into pieces but still covers the body it may even survive that. Minor body damage can be healed also. However, snails that look really mangled such as the body has been crushed badly or the internal organs are sticking out of gaping cracks in the shell etc., I euthanase them by stamping on them.
The best way to pick your snail up is to let it crawl onto your hand on its own accord. This is by far the safest way for the snail to be carried. Picking a snail up by its shell or body may damage the shell or hurt the snail.
The glycolic acid in their mucin aides exfoliation, removes dead skin cells and helps the skin stay smooth. Is It Ethical? Snails have been eaten by humans for thousands of years, but thankfully extracting their mucin doesn't involve killing the snail.
Snail slime is packed with glycolic acid, which is a type of alpha hydroxy acid (AHA) that's known for its ability to break down dead skin cells and promote cell turnover. In other words, glycolic acid is key for keeping your skin looking bright and glowy.
Some sea slugs can live without their bodies. Cut their heads off, and the noggins can still survive for months, scientists recently discovered.
Common Misconceptions About Slug Bites
In reality, slugs do not have teeth or biting mechanisms to bite humans. Instead, the irritation people may experience is caused by the slug's slime, which contains proteins that can cause mild irritation or an allergic reaction in some individuals.
I often step on slugs in our garden at night and I am not happy. Dog poop and slugs are approximately in the same category… The slug will squelch and die, putting a lot of extremely sticky difficult to remove slime on your foot. Otherwise there will be no effects other than revulsion on your part.
Snail slime is naturally composed of Allantoin, Collagen, Elastin, Glycolic Acid, Vitamins A and C and Antibiotic Peptides.
Bacteria Acinetobacter sp. and the Rhizobiaceae family, (Pedobacter sp., Aeromonas sp., Shewanella sp., and Alcaligenes sp.) were identified as main members of the snail mucus‐associated bacterial community.
It's also worth mentioning that snail mucin doesn't clog pores and shouldn't cause breakouts.